FORGET THE SESSIONS...CHECK OUT THE COFFEE LINE-UP

This week thousands will make the arduous journey to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in a small southeastern Swiss village called Davos —  a place otherwise known for its skiing, sanitorium, collection of Kirchner paintings and ‘Davoser-torte’ cake.  Attendees rub shoulders with national leaders, billionaires and a smattering of cultural celebrities and so, for the global elite, an invitation to Davos is like the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory.  Repeat visitors clear the time annually on their schedules.

They have to make extra time because getting to Davos in mid-winter is no easy task.  Jets can’t land in the village. Only political leaders are allowed to arrive by helicopter – and bad weather can make a chopper ride pretty iffy. So most attendees drive or take the train from Zurich; three hours of prime schmoozing.  Networking and innovation can happen under strange circumstances at (or on the way to) Davos.

Serendipity rules, and this author has found himself accidentally having a meaningful discussions with an orphanage director from Rwanda followed by a well-known rock star and a former national president.   From meetings with business leader to meeting Miss Universe – anything and everything can happen in Davos.

Of course, Davos also has its unspoken rules:

MOST PEOPLE IN DAVOS ARE NOT INVITED TO DAVOS

Do not assume that everyone going to Davos will actually be invited to the annual meeting. Over the years, companies have arranged lavish receptions and dinners in the village.  Because invitations to the World Economic Forum conference itself are strictly limited, most of the people you’ll bump into at a party aren’t actually at the conference.  Indeed, some prominent business leaders simply come to Davos for the parties, and don’t attend any meetings at all.  Experienced Davos-goers seek out invitations to the best events, like the Google Party, months in advance. All in all, registering at the conference is less important than being at the right parties.

MOST DAVOS INVITEES DO NOT ATTEND FORMAL DAVOS SESSIONS

Even those who are invited to the conference often do not attend the formal Davos Sessions.  The sessions are wonderful... and almost unreachable through all the security. Once you get past all the guns and fences, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a seat. So many invitees watch the sessions on closed circuit TV in the Davos Kongresshaus. The silver lining: the conversations are better in line for coffee at the Kongresshaus than in the seats at a session.

MOST DAVOS INVITEES ARE NOT FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Davos is labeled a meeting of the world’s business elite. But the truth is that slightly more invitees come from governments and the not-for-profit sector.  That’s part of why the World Economic Forum now spends so much time talking about issues related to climate change and the U.N’s Millennium Development Goals.

DAVOS PROVIDES A CONVENIENT FORUM TO ADDRESS COMPLEX ISSUES

Lots of diplomacy happens at Davos – between countries, between companies and between countries and companies. Leaders can meet each other at Davos beyond the public glares that make their meetings impossible anywhere else. The World Economic Forum even provides special rooms for various sorts of “bilateral talks” – including some rooms with two separate entrances, so that no one sees who is meeting with whom. Quiet discussions at Davos can often enable higher profile discussions later.

DOES DAVOS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Davos has transformed the World Economic Forum from an obscure European meeting hosted by a West German professor into a global brand. But does it make a real difference? Lots of the WEF’s most important work goes on between conferences, and in various global studies it releases through the year. Every year the Forum releases a Global Competitiveness Ranking Report, for instance, which compares productivity gains in different countries and gives observers important information about the effectiveness of different public policies. The Forum also recognizes governments that promote transparency, democracy and productivity while shaming governments that fail to deliver on those kinds of promises.

Of course, Davos isn’t the only public policy conference of its kind. The Clinton Global Initiative and the techno-hip TED conferences are also gaining more and more attention each year.  To keep pace, the World Economic Forum has now launched regional meetings on every continent, an entire separate summer Davos conference in China and a Global Agenda Council of thought leaders in Dubai. All this has actually enhanced the prestige of the winter meeting in Davos itself.

Each year Davos is fully subscribed with folks keen to find a way into the remote Swiss village. Recession hasn’t killed it. Nor has the proliferation of other conferences in other venues.  There’s no sign that the influence of the World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting is abating any time soon.

By Barry Appleton
Managing Partner
Appleton & Associates International Lawyers

 

RELATED MATERIAL FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 31

BACKGROUND

The World Economic Forum (WEF), a Swiss non-profit organization was conceived in 1971 by a group of European businessmen under the auspices of the European Commission and several European industries. Though the World Economic Forum is recognized primarily for its annual meetings of political, economic, and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, the WEF also produces reports and engages in industrial enterprises.

Though the annual Davos meeting was originally intended to be a forum for business leaders to discuss issues relevant to industry, the meeting has expanded to include discussion of economic, social, and sometimes political issues. The Davos meeting served as a setting for several major political developments, including the 1988 Davos Declaration between Greece and Turkey as well as the first meeting outside of Africa between former South African President F.W de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. The Davos meeting has also served as a forum for global leaders to assert their positions on economic and political issues in the lead-up to other meetings, such as the G20.

This year, the Davos meeting took place from January 26th to 30th and adopted the theme of “Shared Norms for the New Reality,” a reflection of the recent global economic crisis and its impact on international economic policy and norms. The forum was addressed by several political, economic, and social leaders, including ,Aung San Suu KyI, who addressed the audience in Davos, urging world leaders not to forget the economic and political strife of millions of Burmese people.  Reuters reported that the meeting was dominated by sometimes heated discussions on the value of regulating banks.  Other highlights include a discussion of energy efficiency and global economic leadership.

RELATED MATERIALS

  • The World Economic Forum has an interactive timeline of its history from 1971 to 2010.
  • The World Economic Forum’s Official Website holds news, session summaries, official tweets, live webcasts and videos on the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting.
  • The World Economic Forum blog was created to give its readers a personal look into the work of the WEF and an ‘insider’s view’ on all WEF events. The blog’s posts are written by the WEF’s Social Media team and by the WEF’s selected guest bloggers
  • Reuters’ Davos Notebook holds a large collection of analysis and opinions on key issues and trends of the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting.
  • Livestream.com has a World Economic Forum feature website which streams videos live and holds video libraries of Plenary Keynotes, Press Conferences, and Social Media interviews on the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting.
  • The Wall Street Journal’s feature site on the 2011 World Economic Forum holds the latest news, exclusive interviews and featured stories on the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting.